Know Anything About Olympic Mountain Outfitters?

[Elknut1]

 Curious as to this outfits way of doing things? Pros & Cons! Thanks!

  ElkNut1

[724wd]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,61698.msg765578.html#msg765578

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I get a little confused about his definition of "guided" and "Semi-Guided" hunts, according to him, "guided" means they guide you to a blind and leave you to watch a pile of apples, "semi-guided" means they hand you a map and say the Elk are in the timber, go hunt them... 
I know if I accepted $4000 from a guy for a "fully-guided" hunt, we would be up well before daylight and putting some miles on until we found some Elk.
and if I accepted $2600 for a "semi-guided" hunt, if they were not coming to my blind, I would take him and a friend out to find some also, and turn them loose on a herd we located.
Leaving them alone, or on their own to find some elk does not have anything to do with guiding IMHO, but is in actuality "Outfitting"

[JimmyHoffa]

I hear you Stick.  If I took money from someone in the expectation that I would essentially get them an elk; I'd be covering a lot of territory and probably wearing out boots.  $1 or $100,000. 

[crabbyguy24]

This guy is the biggest terd walking the face of the earth.  If you want to pay $4000.00 to sit in some feilds and wait for elk to run by and maybe have your guide drop a latte off he is the one to hire!!! This guy should have his hunting rights revoked!!!

[MtnMuley]

No offense crabby, but many people would be amazed at the amount of money spent each year on "guided" hunts here in WA.  It blows me away, actually.

[grundy53]

No offense crabby, but many people would be amazed at the amount of money spent each year on "guided" hunts here in WA.  It blows me away, actually.

except this guy isn't even close to being a guide.

[MtnMuley]

So he runs Olympic Mountain Outfitters and isn't a guide?

[bobcat]

So he runs Olympic Mountain Outfitters and isn't a guide?

Did you go the link 724wd posted and read it? 

[seth30]

try another guide service like bearpaw

[MtnMuley]

So he runs Olympic Mountain Outfitters and isn't a guide?

Did you go the link 724wd posted and read it? 

I didn't go back read it.  I read it a while back when it was current.  My main point with my first post is that it's amazing to see the kind of people out there that spend money on hunts.

[bobcat]

I agree, it's amazing how many would pay to hunt in Washington.

[h20hunter]

I can come up with a few:

Not looking for a trophy, more of a meat/experience hunt.
Close to home.
Keeps the money in local familes.
Builds relationships for future help with 2nd deer (doe) hunts.
Builds relationships for future discounted youth hunts.

Lots of good guides/outfitters in this state. Many more reasons to give them your business.

[MtnMuley]

I agree, it's amazing how many would pay to hunt in Washington.

With all the public land this state has to offer, harvesting a deer doesn't take much effort.

[Elknut1]

Thanks for the comments guys! These are about the same I've heard elsewhere too!

  For any wondering I'm not affiliated with this Outfit at all & was asking for some friends, I was not interested in a hunt with them as we are all DIY & have no reason to need an Outfitter, especially one of that caliber! Thanks!

  ElkNut1

[Alan K]

I agree, it's amazing how many would pay to hunt in Washington.

With all the public land this state has to offer, harvesting a deer doesn't take much effort.

 

[NorthAmBigGameHuntersFoun]

I am sad to say that I just returned from a 5 day rifle hunt in November of 2011 and none of the 5 of us got an elk.  Only one person saw a bull.  One of our group never even saw an elk.  Although 4 of us paid for a fully guided hunt, we did not have a guide.  In fact, the man who drove me to my stand the first day had no clue where to park despite it being on his sister's farm.  The semi guided hunter in our group never was not even given a map and certainly had no guide.  This is more accurately described as unguided and semi guided hunt.  The facilities are deplorable and an electrical fire hazzard.  The porta-potty was so full there was a legitimate concern that the next time it was used it may be hitting you as you go.  I hunt 2 to 3 big game hunts a year.  This ranks amongst the worst 2 I have ever taken.  I would never consider returning nor would I recommend this camp to anyone.  Even if I Had tagged a trophy bull, the hunt would still have been miserable.

[bobcat]

Thanks for posting your review of this outfitter. I have read other bad reviews on them as well. This is very helpful for others who may be considering going on a guided elk hunt.

[JoeE]

Yikes! We need to spread the word about this outfit.

[mobius_ember@yahoo.com]

I went with Olympic Mountain Outfitters for a guided hunt this 2024 Elk season. It is run by Mike Vaughn, originally out of Elm, currently out of Kansas. He comes in to town for the hunting Seasons. He runs his hunts out of a local Centralia Motel(King Oscar), he provides a room, simple meals(breakfast sandwich), packed lunch, and prepares dinner each day out of a large hotel room. Simple accommodations…He has access to 100 acre lot in the Chehalis River Valley (46.49094, -123.11318), the lot has tree stands, blinds,…mixed terrain. It is bordered by private properties to the North and South, to the West is private Weyerhaeuser forest, to the East is public accessible Sierra Pacific forest. Apparently there are several herds that frequent the valley…
For guided it is 6k$, unguided 3.5k$…

I was told there was a herd of 40 Elk, with 6 shootable bulls seen in the neighbors property and headed their way. I signed up for a guided hunt, wanting the highest chance to be put on Elk and have shot opportunity…I was taken to the property pointed out the stand/blind locations, pockets and fields to check. Each day provided a motel room, breakfast, packed lunch, then essentially dropped off at the property…picked up when ready, and advised to “shoot straight”. To this guy, that was a guided hunt.

I never saw an Elk, nor Elk sign…not even in the greater valley…I asked did he have access to other leases…”No”…I asked about access or intel on other areas/opportunities…he seemed to have little to no knowledge about other opportunities…

The guy is wrapped up in his “social conquests” and conspiracy theories based, flat-earth life…which was non stop…and has no focus on contributing to the hunt success of his clients. I did not get the guided hunt experience I paid for… I expected him to know where Elk were, guide me to opportunities, and if no Elk, cover ground... BTW, if he has other hunters, you will be another hunter sharing 100 acre lot…While I was there, there was a guy with his 2 sons, and a young Marine also hunting the property…This was an expensive and disappointing experience and a mistake …it was top dollar paid, for a minimum delivered experience…

Avoid this business…avoid this person…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HntnFsh]

Wow!

[Fidelk]

There are elk in that area.......pretty much all on private land. The tipoff to the ripoff was "access to 100 acre lot". I would be very surprised if there wasn't a certain amount of poaching and trespassing going on in that area.

[HntnFsh]

92 acre spot. The timber company land in that area gets a lot of pressure. Some of the farmers used to harvest elk out of their fields in the area. You would have to hope they either got pushed into that spot or just wandered through at the right time. Just like all of S.W. Washington those herds got hammered by hoof rot and cow tags and are a shadow of what they used to be. Sucks you had to experience what you did.

Just reading his introduction on his website would make me or probably anybody else with a little knowledge about the area pretty skeptical.

[actionshooter]

Wow! That is unreal!!

[elkrack]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

[MADMAX]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

Does sound like the same *censored*'

[duckmen1]

I thought I was reading a review of that D-bag from Graham

Does sound like the same *censored*'

Graham unnamed guide is  even worse.

[Sundance]

Vetting guided hunts is a tough process. I was looking into a quick Texas hunt for this winter and found a guy that seemed alright. After digging for a couple hours online I found that this particular guide had two different websites and years of horrible reviews. Anymore it's hard to go on a guided hunt unless you know somebody that has used that service before or comes on a recommendation from a reputable source. Sorry to hear about your experience, tough lesson to learn. I'd suggest reaching out to Dale from Bearpaw (site owner) in the future, even if it's just for recommendations to areas he doesn't guide. Sadly, there are plenty of scam outfitters running out of WA, usually doing a deep dive into the owners name will reveal all the details you need to know.

[Stein]

Sounds like this website claim isn't true?

Our private land leases, located in areas literally infested with elk and deer

Real bummer and sorry to hear about.  I've only hired a guide once and had a similar experience although at a much lower cost. 

[Sundance]

Never really though of it until now, but is there a section on the site for reviews of outfitters? Might be nice to search hunts/locations where a fellow member has been before and able to give some insight.

[blackveltbowhunter]

You can imagine how I felt 9 miles from a gate, just getting ready to drop into a basin to hunt when my wife inreached me and said  deputies were at my rig and the window was smashed and had been robbed.

I feel worse for you.

That is terrible man. I find it hard to imagine that guy is still in business over 13 years after the initial post. Disgusting. Especially considering the drastic drop in herd numbers and access. There was a time that area was infested.  I can remember late archery and running around a herd of 12 bulls in the weyco adjacent prior to the lease and seeing 50 to a hundred head a day on average on an 8 to 12 mile bike ride. Not counting the field herds in the valley.

Today I covered close to 10 miles mostly in creek draws and drummed up one elk. A lucky young bull who got a pass. 

Thank you for the heads up and sorry for your experience. 

[blacktailer]

Is this the same outfit?   Just popped up on FB today. 

[85yota]

Hunting over bait on leased land, sure doesn't sound like the way to experience a majestic cascade elk hunt. Sounds about like the guy